


Tell Him About It

by shanachie



Series: H50 Shifter Verse [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: AU, M/M, Series, Shifter Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-27
Updated: 2010-10-27
Packaged: 2017-10-14 17:41:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/151792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/pseuds/shanachie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve finally comes clean…but is it completely?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Him About It

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of [](http://emocezi.livejournal.com/profile)[**emocezi**](http://emocezi.livejournal.com/) ’s Shifter verse for her birthday (and well it might grow into a Christmas present the way I’m going). At the moment this is the big fic for her birthday, but that might well change. Oh and if there’s someone who can do pretty graphics…can you give me a yell? I need some help. I can do them, but not apparently what I’m thinking of. [](http://emocezi.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://emocezi.livejournal.com/)**emocezi**  , you didn’t see that :-P

“You need to tell him.”

“I don’t _need_ to tell him anything,” Steve responded. “There’s no reason for him to know.”

Chin just stared at his boss for a moment. Steve had been gone for quite a few years, not that unusual, but what was unusual was that he hadn’t returned with a mate. So when the shifter had started showing interest in the mainlander, Chin hadn’t hesitated to point it out, despite the situation. Unfortunately the years hadn’t changed Steve’s personality any. “Oh, so you don’t think your partner needs to know a key facet of your personality?” he asked, crossing his arm and glaring at the younger man.

“Yeah, cause that’s gonna go over real well,” Steve snapped back. “Oh, by the way, Danno, I just happen to turn into a tiger once a month and if I don’t, I get pissier than usual. Oh and if I get really pissed off…I can also sometimes shift on accident. Yeah…I _so_ do not need a psych consult.”

“Seems like a pretty reasonable explanation to me,” Chin replied easily.

“It’s not that _easy_ , Chin,” Steve gritted out. “People who weren’t raised here, who aren’t used to this. They just don’t…they don’t understand. It’s creepy and weird and…they think I’m a freak.” He dropped into his chair, looking up at the other man now. “Danny already thinks I’m crazy.”

Chin shook his head. “He doesn’t think you’re crazy, brah. Little psychotic maybe, but not crazy. Besides the guy’s your _mate_ …you need to tell him what’s going on before your tiger decides to take what’s his.”

Steve barked out a bitter laugh. “He’s not my mate. For one thing, he’s a guy. There’s the whole issue of the two of us can’t have cubs. And besides obviously there’s something broken with me. Dad found his mate when he was fifteen. I should have found mine years ago.”

“There’s no predicted age for finding a mate. It just depends on when the two of you meet. If you weren’t in contact with her or in this case him before now, the bond wouldn’t become active. As for cubs, you do remember that precocious little girl we met at the football game? And there are other ways to have cu…er kids,” Chin quickly changed his words as Danny poked his head into the office.

The blond detective looked at the two in confusion. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“No,” Steve responded as Chin said, “Yes.”

“Oookay.” Danny waved a print-out at them. “We got the information on Grayson.”

Steve shot to his feet. “Good. Let’s go.”

“You need to tell him!” Chin called after the departing detectives.

“Tell who what?” Danny asked as he tried to hurry to catch up with Steve’s long strides.

“Nothing,” Steve bit out. “Chin’s sticking his nose into something that doesn’t concern him.”

“Really? It seems like there isn’t much that doesn’t concern you guys about each other,” Danny pointed out.

Steve glared at the other man, slamming the car door. “Yeah, well, this time it really doesn’t concern him. Despite what he thinks.”

__

H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 H50 

Danny stalked back into the station, Steve hot on his heels. Halfway into the room, he spun on his heels, almost overbalancing himself with his injured knee and stuck his finger in Steve’s face. “You’ll be lucky if that guy doesn’t sue you for assault! Or try to have you arrested!”

“He tried to hurt _you_ ,” Steve growled. “He tried to drop you off the roof. That could have maimed you for life. If it didn’t kill you outright. He’s lucky he’s still alive.”

“Okay. First of all.” Danny pointed to himself. “Cop. Been taking care of myself for years. Second of all. What the fuck?!” He shoved Steve back as the man tried to crowd him again. “What is going on with you?”

“You might just want to let him check you over,” Chin commented from behind Danny, distracting the blond long enough that Steve was able to grab him.

Danny struggled as Steve tried to manhandle him onto the table. He slapped at Steve’s hands when the other man tried to untuck and lift his shirt. “No. Bad Steve,” he snapped. “No cookie.”

Steve growled in response, pinning the lower half of Danny’s body with his own. Danny gulped and froze, obviously not wanting to provoke a bad reaction. Steve seemed pleased with his actions, his growls turning softer as his touches gentled; ghosting across Danny’s ribs over the shirt before sliding up underneath. Danny tipped his head up, meeting Steve’s eyes. There was something not quite human in Steve’s hazel eyes, but it didn’t scare Danny. He wasn’t trying to hurt Danny, he was checking him, making sure the injuries were just surface deep.

Danny squirmed beneath his touch, his breath hitching as something hard and hot pressed against his thigh. Steve’s head had dropped, his nose tucking up behind Danny’s ear and he was very obviously _sniffing_ at him. Those combined seemed to be more than Danny could handle. He got his hands on Steve’s shoulders and shoved, managing to push the taller man slightly. “Get off. Get off! Get off! Get OFF!” he demanded, continuing to shove as his words got more emphatic.

Steve back away, horror clear on his face. “Sorry,” he whimpered. “Sorry, sorry. Sorry!” Turning, he fled from Danny’s presence.

Danny turned to Chin, who had reappeared at the sound of yelling. “What the hell is going on?” he asked.

“Danny, you need to calm down.” He tried to grab the blond detective who had levered himself off the table and was attempting to follow after his partner. “Wait. It isn’t what you think.”

“No? Then tell me what it is. Because what I think is that my partner just had me pinned to a table and was fucking _smelling_ me. And apparently he was _really_ happy about it.” Danny flailed his arms and cane into the air. “And I didn’t even know he swung that way.”

Chin motioned for Danny to take a seat and after a moment, the blond did. “It’s not my place to tell you what’s going on with Steve,” Chin started. “Not that I think I could even begin to explain his thought process. But I will tell you that it’s not that he swings _that way_ , but more that he swings _your way_.” When Danny opened his mouth to say something, Chin held up a hand. “I know that makes no sense. But it’s also not my place to tell you what’s going on with him. I do think he needs to tell some of it though. Come on. I know where he should be.” Motioning for Danny to follow him, he led the way through the headquarters.

Danny turned Chin’s words over, trying to figure them out as he followed the Hawaiian down the hall. The man obviously knew where he was leading the detective because there was no hesitation in his stride, no wonder with which direction to take when he came to cross corridors. Finally they came to the room Steve liked to use when he planned to be persuasive with a suspect. Danny raised his eyebrows at Chin when the other man motioned for him to enter. “You want me to go in there?”

“That’s where Steve is,” Chin replied. He handed Danny a well-worn blanket before stepping back. “He won’t hurt you.”

“Really? That’s how you comfort me? ‘He won’t hurt you’.”

“Danny, trust me when I say that Steve would literally kill himself before he would harm a hair on your head. And at the moment, you’re probably the only one who can reach him. Just…talk to him.” Danny threw the blanket over his shoulder and stepped through the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder at Chin who motioned him forward.

The room was dimly lit, making it difficult for Danny to locate Steve, but then he heard a voice. “That wasn’t good. Scared him. He shouldn’t be afraid. Shouldn’t be afraid of me,” over and over again. Danny scanned the room, following the sound of the voice, and located Steve in the corner. He was tucked almost into the one corner, arms wrapped around his knees as he rocked back and forth. His words either set the tune for his rocking or vice versa, but he was moving to a beat only he could hear.

Danny crouched down next to him, reaching out to touch his shoulder. “Steve?” he said softly. “Hey,” he coaxed when Steve tried to scramble away from him. “Where are you going?”

“No. No. Stay away from me. Don’t want to scare you,” Steve protested. “Can’t hurt you.”

“Come here, you idiot,” Danny replied, grabbing him and pulling him back. “You’re gonna make yourself sick. Either from freaking out or the cold floor.” He wrapped the blanket around Steve’s shoulders, easing the other man back to his side and not releasing him until Steve was settled next to him. “You gonna tell me what’s going on in that stubborn head of yours?” He rubbed the top of Steve’s head when the other man rested it on his chest. “I’m not scared _of_ you, man, I’m scared _for_ you.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Steve whispered, even as he leaned into the caress.

“Well, no. I can’t understand if you don’t tell me. And I absolutely promise I’m going to keep freaking out if you don’t talk to me.” Danny glanced towards the door which was now firmly shut. “And I think Chin locked us in here and isn’t gonna let us out until you tell me something.”

Steve shook his head. “You shoved me off because I was hard.”

“Weeell…yes, but no.” Danny tightened his grip on Steve when he tried to pull away. “Oh, no, you listen to me explain this and then I want to know what’s going on with you. I shoved you away because I thought _you_ were going to freak out about that. You, Mister anal retentive Army…sorry Navy guy. You come from a place where guys don’t hit on other guys. I fully expected you to freak out within moments. _That’s_ why I shoved you away. Now I want you to explain why Chin says that it’s me that made you hard and not guys in general.”

Steve twisted so he could peer up at Danny, the dim lighting obviously not bothering him. “It doesn’t bother you? That I might want you like that?”

“College, man, everyone fooled around with…well, pretty much everyone.” Danny ran a hand down Steve’s head, smiling as he arched into it. “Your turn. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

Steve shook his head, turning away from Danny, although he didn’t move away from the hand that was stroking down his back now. For a few minutes they just sat there with Danny gently running his hand over Steve. Danny smiled as the taller man burrowed into the touch. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the sound coming from Steve’s throat was close to a purr. But humans didn’t purr. “All right, Steve,” he said in a low voice when the man was practically boneless next to him. “Time for you to ‘fess up. What the hell is going on?”

If they hadn’t been pressed so closely together, Danny would have missed the minute tensing in Steve’s muscles. When the taller man tried to pull away, Danny pressed down on his spine, refusing to let him move. “No,” he whispered. “No. No. I can’t tell you. If I tell you, you’ll leave me. Can’t have you leave me.”

“Okay, first off, you need to stop freaking out. Cause you’re starting to worry me. Second of all, if I haven’t left you with all the insane things you’ve done, I’m not gonna leave you over what big confession you’ve got locked in your thick skull. What’s going on?”

Steve folded his head into his arms and mumbled something causing Danny to roll his blue eyes. He drew back from the other man, drawing a whimper from Steve. “Hey, I can’t hear you when you talk to your arms, so speak up, man.”

Steve raised his head, meeting Danny’s eyes with his own hazel ones. “I said I’m a tiger.”

Danny blinked for a minute, then blurted out, “In bed? Cause honestly? I did _not_ need to know that. If you’re trying to make a stupid ‘I’m an animal in the sack’ joke, those were dumb about ten years ago.”

Steve growled, pulling away from Danny, and folding himself up into a smaller ball. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” he bit out. “You might not run away, but all you’re doing is making stupid jokes.” He raised his voice, obviously thinking Chin was still listening, “This is why I didn’t want to tell him!”

Raising his hands, Danny attempted to placate Steve. “Okay, obviously you think you’re a tiger. Not sure why, but…we can work with this.”

“I don’t _think_ I’m a tiger…I…all right look. I’ll show you. Just do me a favor? Don’t shoot me.”

“Don’t? Wait, what are you doing?!” Danny blinked as Steve got smoothly to his feet, shedding the blanket and reached for the hem of his t-shirt. “Whoa, whoa. WHOA!”

Steve paused just as he took his shirt off, glancing down at Danny, his bare torso gleaming in the half-light. “What?” he asked.

“Why are you taking your clothes off?”

“Because I don’t want to rip them,” he explained practically. “Stop freaking out. I’m not going to molest you.”

Danny bit his tongue before he said something he might regret later and motioned for Steve to continue. Within seconds, Steve was stripped down to skin and Danny was trying to figure out where it was safe to look. “Now what?”

“Just…give me a second. This isn’t instantaneous.”

Hunching his shoulders, Steve tried to ignore Danny who was staring at him intently. Steve took a breath as he felt the shift come over him. It was always painful when he forced it, though the heightened stress of not knowing if Danny would freak out or not seemed to take a bit of the edge off. Almost as if his tiger was worried about his mate’s reaction, too. His ribs cracked as they reshaped and he saw Danny wince at the noise just before he dropped to his hands and knees when his legs started to shift. He was glad Danny was staying back, although he wouldn’t have minded the comfort of the other man’s touch, he wasn’t sure how he would react to having someone else in his space during the shift. Bones and flesh shrunk and remolded themselves into something more feline as a horrible itch came over him when his fur started to grow in. He always hated that part because even when it finished it seemed like the itching wouldn’t stop and it wasn’t like he could scratch himself. He opened his mouth, letting out a yell that turned into a snarl as the change completed.

Less than eight minutes had passed between the time Steve had started stripping and a panting tiger was standing in front of him. After a minute, he raised his head looking directly at Danny and twitched his tail.

Danny stared at him for a minute, before dropping his head back so it banged against the wall. "Oh my god. You are a fucking tiger. Why is this my life?" He lifted his head so he could see the tiger, who was still staring at him. “So really real? A really real like tiger…human…tiger…wait what the hell are you called?” He waved off his own question. “Never mind. Not like you can actually talk right now. God, you’d think I’d be freaking out about this. But I grew up in Jersey. I cut my teeth on stories of the Jersey Devil. This? Doesn’t even rate a three on the weird-o-meter.”

Steve sat down and chuffed at him, obviously relieved that he wasn’t going to run away screaming.

“But I gotta say this. You’re a fucking _tiger_! What the actual fuck, man? People? Do not TURN INTO ANIMALS! Well, except in late night double features!”

Steve tilted his head sideways, as if he needed to see him from another angle, then chuffed at him again, before stretching out a paw and placing it on Danny’s thigh. Danny froze in place, staring at him. The tiger opened his mouth, showing off sharp teeth, before his jaw snapped closed. Strangely Danny didn’t feel threatened, even as the tiger edged closer, nudging him around until he was satisfied with his location.

When Steve was finished arranging him, Danny was still against the wall, but Steve was now draped half across his legs; head and one large paw holding him in place. Danny’s legs were pinned, although his arms were free and he could reach his gun if he wanted. The tiger was between him and the door, quite obviously watching both. After a few moments, he nudged at Danny’s hands. “Don’t know what you want, Steve. Are you still Steve?”

“He is,” Chin answered from the doorway, drawing a growl from the tiger. “Oh, stop, you big baby. I’m not going to take him away from you.”

“Could you maybe convince him to move a little though?” Danny requested. “He’s kinda heavy.”

“Just tell him to move,” Chin replied. He grabbed the chair Steve normally dropped suspects into and spun it around, straddling it. He glanced at Danny who was holding his hands almost above his head in an effort not to touch the tiger. “He probably wants you to pet him. Try scratching his neck and back, he tends to be itchy after a shift.”

Tentatively, Danny lowered one hand laying it against the ruff of Steve’s neck. When the tiger didn’t move, but obviously held himself perfectly still; Danny carefully stroked across his fur. He almost jumped as Steve stretched, trying to keep his head under the moving hand. “Hey!” Danny yelped. “Careful.” Steve just rolled an eye up at him as if to say he was being silly. Twisting his head, he nudged Danny’s other hand. Shaking his head and sighing, Danny gave in and lowered it to rub across his head. “And the part that freaks me out? That this is _not_ freaking me out,” he commented.

“You’re okay with this?” Chin asked.

“Am I okay with the fact that my partner can apparently turn into a three hundred plus pound tiger at will?” Danny replied. “Suuure. Why the hell not? Cause this isn’t weird or anything.” He pushed at the tiger. “Hey, do me a favor? I’ll keep petting you or scratching your or whatever, but you’re putting my legs to sleep. And I’d like to be able to walk again.”

Steve moved so quickly that Danny felt the wind almost breeze past him and his legs give a cry of relief as the big cat curled up next to him instead. The heat against his bad knee felt almost deliciously good and he leaned into it a little as he reached down to pet Steve some more. “Thanks, Steve,” he whispered. Digging his fingers into the tiger’s fur and watching with amusement as the tiger started kneading the blanket against the floor; he turned his attention to Chin when he realized Steve wasn’t going to move any farther. “Obviously you knew about…this.”

Chin nodded. “I am Alaka’i. My family has always…helped people on the Islands like Steve.” He nodded at the tiger who had curled himself around Danny and was quite obviously enjoying the scratching the other man was giving him. “If you put him to sleep, you’re the one staying here with him until he wakes up or changes back.”

“Yeah, about that. Can he…” Danny flailed a hand for a minute, then quickly put it back down on Steve when the tiger made a grumbling sound. “Can he make himself human again? Or is he stuck like this? And how come he could just make himself a tiger? Doesn’t he have rules?”

Chin nodded. “He has rules. He _has_ to change at least once during the full moon or he gets pissier than usual. He can hold it off, but it’s not good for him to do that. Extreme stress, anger, worry, pretty much any major emotion can trigger the shift. It can take longer and be more painful. Having his hoa hana with him can make it easier, but not painless.”

“His what? Is that one of those H-words I need to get offended by?” Danny demanded as Steve lifted his head and growled at Chin. “Hey! Hey!” he yelped as the tiger heaved himself to his feet. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He needs to know,” Chin argued, not backing down as Steve stalked him, growling low in his throat. “I know what you think, but I disagree.”

“Chin, maybe you shouldn’t make the big tiger mad at you,” Danny pointed out, trying to scramble to his feet. “Steve, whatever the word is that Chin used, I don’t know it and it’s really not worth tearing his throat out over. I’m sure he didn’t…” He stumbled to a stop as the tiger started to shake and popping and cracking came from the body.

He hadn’t been sure if what he had seen the first time was the product of booze he didn’t remember drinking, but watching it in reverse wasn’t much better. Fur sank back into the body; bones cracked and re-arranged themselves. And within ten minutes, a naked man was kneeling on the concrete flood where the tiger had been standing a moment before. Danny had stepped forward to help him when Steve turned to the side and vomited up what he had eaten that day. “Somehow I’m not seeing this as an advantage if that’s your reaction to changing twice in one day.”

Steve mustered up enough energy to lift a hand and flip Danny off. Lowering his arm, he just huddled on the floor, too worn out to even move.

Not even sure why he was doing it, Danny snagged the blanket off the floor, wrapping it around Steve. “Come on. Let’s get you warmed up. And you can tell me more about this later. There’s got to be some way we can use this.” He chivied Steve to his feet, asking as they walked out, “Can you track? I mean like a bloodhound? Cause that would be awesome. Although I suppose you would scare the natives.”

Kono met Chin in the main room, nodding towards the now blocked off office. “Danny just disappeared in there with a blanket covered Steve. Did Steve tell him?”

Chin dropped the clothes he’d picked up into a pile on the table. “He told Danny he’s a shifter. When I mentioned that Danny’s his hoa hana, Steve flipped out and shifted back.”

Kono shook her head, glancing towards the office which was suspiciously silent. “He’s trying to make life difficult on himself, isn’t he?”

“Have you ever known a McGarrett to be another way?” Chin replied.

  
 _Author’s Note: I realize this is a bit open-ended, but it’s that way for a reason. This is not the end of Danny and Steve’s issues…and things are not always wrapped up within one story or one episode. So I wanted to leave things a bit at a loss. I’ll be working on a couple more stories over the coming days/weeks. Right now I intend to go back and let the boys meet though…and have Steve’s tiger freak out. And show you some of what he would do when first confronted with Danny. And yes, I am purposely not translating one of the terms Chin uses._

_guide Alaka'i_  
tiger kika  



End file.
